Our research objective is to understand how sound stimuli are received and coded in the mammalian auditory system. To this end we make systematic measurements of physiological signals in the cat, develop quantitative descriptions of the signal transformations, and incorporate these into theoretical models of the system. In carrying out research in this direction, we integrate knowledge from biological, physical, and engineering sciences. One of our goals is to contribute to the development of new methods for the diagnosis and treatment of hearing disorders.